Kooij seals back-to-back Tour of Britain stage wins

Olav Kooij seals back-to-back wins at Tour of Britain

Dutch rider Olav Kooij secured consecutive victories at the Tour of Britain by triumphing in a sprint finish on stage two. Riding for Team Visma-Lease a Bike, Kooij overtook Great Britain’s Sam Watson on the final corner to take the 174.06km stage around Stowmarket in wet conditions.

Watson finished third after being beaten to second place by Belgium’s Tom Crabbe of Team Flanders-Baloise. Kooij retained the leader’s green jersey and extended his general classification lead to 14 seconds, while Crabbe moved into second place overall. Watson, riding for Ineos Grenadiers, sits 16 seconds behind the leader in third.

“It was a bit harder than yesterday – we had to use a lot of power to make the sprint in the first place,” Kooij said. “I didn’t look back, but it felt like it wasn’t as close as yesterday, so I’m happy with that. The race suits me quite well. Another stage win after some hard work from the team, so I’m really happy with that.”

Stage three will cover 133.03km on Thursday, from Milton Keynes to the Bedfordshire town of Ampthill.

Stage two top 10 finishers:

1. Olav Kooij (NED/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) – 3h 44m 14s

2. Tom Crabbe (BEL/Team Flanders-Baloise) – same time

3. Samuel Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers)

4. Matevz Govekar (SLO/Bahrain Victorious)

5. Rory Townsend (IRL/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team)

6. Marc Brustenga (ESP/Equipo Kern Pharma)

7. Luke Lamperti (USA/Soudal Quick-Step)

8. Alberto Dainese (ITA/Tudor Pro Cycling)

9. Noa Isidore (FRA/Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale)

10. Davide Bomboi (BEL/Unibet Tietema Rockets)

General classification after stage two:

1. Olav Kooij (NED/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) – 7h 12m 55s

2. Tom Crabbe (BEL/Team Flanders-Baloise) +14s

3. Samuel Watson (GB/Ineos Grenadiers) +16s

4. Hugo Hofstetter (FRA/Israel-Premier Tech) +16s

5. Andreas Nielsen (DEN/Unibet Tietema Rockets) +17s

6. Milan Lanhove (BEL/Team Flanders-Baloise) +17s

7. Joshua Golliker (GB/Great Britain) +18s

8. Baptiste Veistroffer (FRA/Lotto) +18s

9. Alberto Dainese (ITA/Tudor Pro Cycling) +20s

10. Rory Townsend (IRL/Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) +20s

Kooij’s back-to-back wins underline his sprinting prowess and mark him as the rider to watch in the coming stages. His strong start has also put pressure on rivals as the race heads into stage three, promising another exciting day of racing.